Implementing And Leading Change Management Essay

Organizational Change is an important issue and within organization. Changes can due to many ways such change in management system, change in accounting system, change in market demand and change in competitors in the market. Organizational is an action or set of an action for the reason of changing the direction or process of the Company’s work. In addition, change is a fact of company’s life. Due to survive of the organization it has to change the way it works.

Change in organization may affect the business strategy of the organization, and the process companies carry out to accomplish that strategy and the workforce engage. Generally, some change are small does not affect organizations main strategy but some change is the reason of organization transformation.

However, well panned and implemented change ensures organizational survival in modern day’s competitive market. Change can produce many benefits for the organization such improved and better competitiveness, better financial performance, satisfied employees and higher level of customer. Benefit may take long time to achieve and period of transition is time of disturbance uncertainty. Thought, change is not always positive but it can be handle such a way that strength than weaken the commitment of the people to an organization.

Therefore, change process of the organization must be managed in order to keep the company moving towards its new vision and its stated objective. Also, organizational change actually is about people changing. So the change must be began with concern fo its impact on the workforce of the organization. However, change is the part of organizational development process; it is an ongoing and bring strength to the company for future success. I addition, organization generally bring change for response to external environment such social, legal, economic, political and technological factors.

3.2. Change Management:

Change management is structural approach to transitioning person, teams and organization from a existing state to needed future level to achieve or execute a vision or strategy. Change is an organizational procedure aimed to employees to acknowledge and clinch change in their current environment.

However, Change management can be define in three ways firstly, Change management as a systematic process; is the formal process for the organizational change, consist a systematic approach and knowledge. Second, Change management as means transitioning people; it is a critical part of a project that leads, manage and enable people to accept new process, system, technologies and value and it is a set of activities what transit people from their current way of working to the desired way of working. Finally, Change Management as Competitive Tactic; it is a continuous process of aligning an organization with its marketplace and doing so more responsively and effectively than competitors (Lisa et. al., 1997).

3.3. Common Obstacles to Chang and Reason of Change Fail:

A 2006 Harvard Business review found out that 66% of change scheme does not achieve their desired company outcomes. They have identified five most common reason or obstacles to change such as Employees resistance, communication breakdown, insufficient time devoted to training, staff turnover during transition process and cost exceeded the budget. From five only three (red circle in Figure 2) can be improve by the change leader; Employees resistance, communication breakdown and staff turnover during transition. Table 1 presented the overview of the leadership role in terms of obstacles.

Figure2: Obstacles Experience during Major Organizational Change

Change Obstacles

Leader’s Role

Employee Resistance

• Leverage relationship with team to address employee concerns on a personal level.

• Ask for employee’s feedback and react to their concerns honestly and openly.

• Review the section on Managing Change in this guide.

Communication breakdown

• Communicate main information to employees on an on-going and regular basis.

• Review the section on Communication in this guide.

Staff turnover

• Connect team by involving them in the initiative.

• Coach, Mentor and enrich their roles.

Table 1: Overview of Leader Role in Change Obstacles

Kotter (1995) states following Eight Errors common to organizational Change Efforts and the consequences three consequences;

Error 1: Allowing too much contentment or complacency

Error 2: Failing to gain leadership support

Error 3: Underestimate the supremacy of vision

Error 4: Under communicating with the vision

Error 5: Allowing obstacles to block the vision

Error 6: Failing to build short term win

Error 7: Declining victory too soon

Error 8: Neglectiong to anchor change firmly in the culture

Consequences 1: New business strategy not implement well

Consequences 2: Reengineering takes too long time

Consequences 3: Quality program do not bring hope for result

3.4. Change Management Model:

There are many models available to help lead change. The main common and used model of change management is Kotter’s Eight Steps of change management. This model of change management given below (Kottes, 2006):

Step 1: Establishing a Sense of Urgency

First step of the change management is help other to understand the need for change and act immediately, Do SOWT analysis to identify competitive realities and then identify and discuses possible dangers. (Kottes, 2006).

Step 2: Creating the Guiding Coalition

Second step of Ktter’s model is to make sure there is powerful group leading the change, individual with leadership skill, credibility, bias for action, authority and analytical skill, then build a team and forming influential guiding union and getting the team to work together for a common goal (Kottes, 2006).

Step 3: Developing a Vision and Strategy

The third step is to explain how the future will be unlike from the past, and how you will build the future realism, creating a vision to help direct the change effort, getting the vision and strategy right and developing strategies to accomplish the vision (Kottes, 2006).

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Step 4: Communicating the Change and Vision

To make sure that the as many as employees understand and accept the vision and strategy arise from change, a sound communication is needed between leadership and workforce to communicate vision and strategy (Kottes, 2006).

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Step 5: Empowering Broad-based action:

The fifth stage is to remove as manay as barriers possible than it is easy to make a vision into reality. This step help to allow to act getting rid of obstacles and encourage risk taking and modify structure or system that undermine thee change vision.

(Kottes, 2006).

Step 6: Generation Sort-term wins

Sit step is to create visible unambiguous success and plan for generate short term achievements and achieved them then recognise and reward those employees (Kottes, 2006).

Step 7: Consolidating gain and Produce more Change

Seventh stage is to press faster and harder after the short term achievements, adjust improvements and sustain the momentum for change. Also, Use increasing integrity to change all systems, structures and policies that don’t go well together and don’t fit the transformation attempt, Hiring, promoting and developing individual who can realize the change vision, reinvigorating the procedure with new change agents, thems and project (Kottes, 2006).

Step 8: Anchoring new Approaches in the Culture

The final step of change management mode, is anchoring new approaches in the culture by grasp on to the new customs of behaving, and make sure they be successful until they become a part of the culture of the group, building better performance through productivity and consumer oriented behaviour, additional and better leadership, and better effective management , communicative the connections between new behaviours and organisational success and developing means to make sure leadership improvement and (Kottes, 2006).

3.5. Managing the Emotion in Change:

There are many models to guide thinking on how people cope with the emotion cycle of change. Bridges (2003), has provide a model showing how people react in the time of change. He has divided Transition time in three phases (Figure 4); letting go/losing/ending of the present position, a disorienting or neutral zone and a new beginning.

Figure 4: Bridges’ Three Phases of Transition (Bridges, 2003)

This model transition mode reviews the emotional impact over time and the leader’s role in change management. He distinguished difference between change and transition. Transition deals with oly psychological impact of the individual but one the other hand change is situational and may happen without the people (Bridges, 2003).

Phase 1: Ending/Losing/Letting Go

In the first phase (ending/losing/letting go), workforce of the company must come to a point where they can let go of the past situation because until they let go they will not able to move on towards future. Possible reaction from employees might be; fear, resentment, apathy, loss and sense of shock. In this phase leader must identify what individual will losing and accept individual’s reaction and find a way to compensate (Bridges, 2003).

Phase 2: The Neutral Zone

Second phase is the Neutral zone, where employees are in gap between past and new. In this position old system does not work and new yet to launch. Possible reaction from individual might be anxiety; motivation level comes to low; confusion; but have some hope for future (Bridges, 2003).

Phase 3: The New Beginning

Final phase is the New Beginning phase; here employees start to show emotional commitment for the new state. Possible reaction might be; new identity, new energy and sense of purpose. In this phase leader must explain the new beginning, continuous communication the vision, develop a new training plan and give opportunity to the employees to play a part in transition process (Bridges, 2003).

3.6. Leadership Role in Change Management Process:

Successful organizational change depends on leaders of the change project who have direct authority with employees going through the change. The following are some of the major roles leaders may play as they drive change in the company;

Leader must be the role model of the team working for the change transition. Leader must be willing to go first and lead the fellow workers in the process. Leader must be self aware and deliberate.

Leader is a decision maker. Leader control resources such as, workforce, budget, equipment available for transition period of change and have full authority to make decision how to handle them. During change, leaders must control their decision-making authority and choose the preference that will support the project. The Decision-Maker is influential and gives priorities that support change.

Leader is a motivator to the employees. Leader gives motivation for the change to happen. Leaders create an image importance about change and show commitment and passion to get things done.

Leader is an enforcer in change management. Leader hold individual accountable for the change with authority. Perfect leader understand that change will not happen if they do not fulfil the roles the authority can do.